Message Summary: This parable reminds each of us that we personally matter to God. There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God every time a sinner repents. If you have not repented and placed your faith in Christ, today would be a great day to bring about some rejoicing in heaven!

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"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:8-10).

Do you ever misplace anything? Anyone who says never I suspect is personally deceived. But certainly some have a greater problem with misplacing items more than others ("misplaced" being a gentler word used in place of "losing") . As we age we find we are more prone to losing things. In our home the biggest issue is keys. We have a key holder within reach of the door we use to come and go, and when disciplined, we immediately place the keys on the little hooks upon our return home. But... there are occasions when we might toss them on a dresser, tuck them into a coat pocket or they might get buried deep in the bowels of Brooksyne's purse.

Early this year we wrote a message about a nifty key finder Brooksyne gave me as a Christmas gift that beeps when you whistle. I pointed out in the earlier message the problem was the little lo-tech thing-a-ma-jig beeped at any high pitched sound regardless of where we were and whether or not we were looking for our keys. The device's hypersensitivity made it essentially worthless and definitely annoying. Brooksyne finally returned it and even the cashier was annoyed by its continuous beeping to the point she removed it from her workplace.

Last week we received a small mystery package in the mail containing four "tiles", a little hi-tech search device that you can place on a keychain which connects to your phone through the Bluetooth. We have no idea who sent them to us or if it's just a "miracle". Whatever, we are thankful! Now we have them on each set of keys and one in Brooksyne's purse in case she misplaces it, which she has been known to do on more than one occasion. I misplaced our main set of keys several weeks ago and wish there was a way to make the device work retroactively!

Losing items is not distinct to our generation or geographical location. Jesus told parables and remarkably, two thousand years later, people in every culture still identify with them. After all, we've all lost something of value and know the relief and joy in finding it. That's how we will feel when we find our main missing set of keys! The series of parables in Luke 15 all illustrate the lostness of humanity and the great joy in the redemption plan, with an emphasis today on just one coin of ten that was found and just one sinner of millions who repents.

Due to our understanding of coins (which to us are usually small change of little value) it's hard to identify with this woman who went to such effort to find one coin out of ten. We might see it like a frantic search for a dime. But without paper currency this coin was a significant loss to the woman either due to its value or her poverty.* She lit a lamp, swept the house and searched carefully until she found it.

It's especially hard for us to imagine calling our friends and neighbors over to rejoice with us when we find a lost coin! I can't imagine telling them to come over and rejoice with me when I've found a missing dime in the seat cushion. But this single coin had great value to this woman reminding us of the great value of one sinner who repents. What's more, aren't you thankful for friends that rejoice with you even in small rather than just the large blessings?

This parable reminds each of us that we personally matter to God. There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God every time a sinner repents. If you have not repented and placed your faith in Christ, today would be a great day to bring about some rejoicing in heaven!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

Daily prayer: Father, thank You for speaking to us through Bible doctrine, parables, fellow believers, and through life-altering events in our lives. You beamed Your searchlight from the portals of heaven to show us how lost we were. We’re tremendously blessed to know that celestial beings held a celebration in heaven when we  chose to be Your followers. Though misplacing material items leads to time lost and great frustration, misplacing our faith leads to error and eternal damnation. Father, You've shown us the way and instructed us, "This is the way; walk in it." Help us to seek out others who've yet to find the way so that they too will follow You and cause rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

* The Life Application Study Bible points out that women at that time received ten silver coins as a wedding gift. Besides their monetary value, these coins held sentimental value like that of a wedding ring, and to lose one would be extremely distressing. Just as a woman would rejoice at finding her lost coin or ring, so the angels would rejoice over a repentant sinner. Each individual is precious to God. He grieves over every loss and rejoices whenever one of His children is found and brought into the kingdom. Perhaps we would have more joy in our churches if we shared Jesus' love and concern for the lost.

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"Amazing Grace"  Video  Gaither Vocal Band  "I once was lost, but now I'm found!"

Information about Tile finder  Yesterday I managed to still set off an alarm during our church service. Your phone not only finds the tile attached to your key ring but if you press a button on the tile twice it "finds" your phone. Apparently I was jiggling the keys in my pocket and inadvertently set off the finder which caused a double alarm in my panicked heart!